IAPMO CEO Testifies Before U.S. Senate on Securing Nation’s Water Future

IAPMO Group CEO GP Russ Chaney was invited to testify before a key U.S. Senate subcommittee today, where he said that the federal government should consider taking a more active role in helping the private sector move toward a more water‐ and energy‐efficient future.

Jul 25, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC – IAPMO Group CEO GP Russ Chaney was invited to testify before a key U.S. Senate subcommittee today, where he said that the federal government should consider taking a more active role in helping the private sector move toward a more water‐ and energy‐efficient future. Speaking (http://goo.gl/giBS5) before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, Chaney provided an overview of the codes and services IAPMO offers, including the Green Plumbing and Mechanical Code Supplement — the nation’s first green
construction code — that help jurisdictions throughout the nation with the implementation of their green building and water‐efficiency programs.

Additionally, IAPMO recently was invited to join the United States Water Partnership, Chaney said, whose goal is “to ensure sustainable and equitable water management that benefits our people and our environment through improving access and quality of service for water, sanitation and hygiene; advancing integrated water resource management; increasing efficiency and productivity of water use; improving governance through stronger public and private institutions, policies and processes.”

IAPMO also chairs the Water and Energy Efficiency Topical Committee of the National Institute of Building Science’s Consultative Council, Chaney added, and is collaborating with ASTM International on solar thermal technologies in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Heat Metering standardization project. Despite the accomplishments of IAPMO and the nation’s other standard‐ and code‐developing organizations, he told the subcommittee, more needs to be done to address our water and energy needs.

At today’s Senate hearing, Chaney outlined numerous steps the federal government could take, including incentives for state and local governments to adopt and properly enforce comprehensive green plumbing codes; building owners who voluntarily have their buildings audited and implement their results; and for state and local governments to require water utilities to conduct independent leakage audits and report the results along with a plan for the repair and updates.

“Much is known about the needs of our aging water infrastructure and it is critically important that these issues be addressed,” he said. “According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, our water infrastructure rates a grade of D‐minus with over 7 billion gallons of potable water a day wasted due to leaking water infrastructure.” Chaney also called for the EPA to take the lead in the development of uniform national non‐potable water‐quality standards applicable to various permissible utilizations of non‐potable water, and for the federal government to develop a comprehensive and coordinated water strategy to meet the nation’s needs.

“While we will always be able to use the incredible ingenuity of the American people to find alternate sources of energy as our needs and circumstances evolve, we must recognize that there simply is no substitute for water,” Chaney said. “We rely on access to safe, clean water every day.”